BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Rhodes College softball team dropped a pair to Birmingham-Southern on Saturday afternoon in both team's Southern Athletic Association opener. Rhodes fell in game one, 7-6 (8) before falling 6-2 in game two.
In the first game, the Lynx got out to a 1-0 lead as senior
Rachel Pewitt singled home fellow senior
Erin Parker. Rhodes pushed the lead to 2-0 in the third as freshman
Kendall Henry put the ball in play and reached on error, scoring Parker.
BSC would cut the deficit to 2-1, but freshman
Jill Healy extended the lead in the fourth as she belted her first career homerun to straight away center to make it 3-1. Parker followed that up with a RBI to make it 4-1.
However, the Panthers made it a 4-4 game, scoring three in the bottom of the fourth. Neither team could get any offense going the next two innings.
In the seventh, with a runner on and one down, Pewitt stepped into the box and blasted a two run homer to left field to put Rhodes ahead 6-4. But again, BSC had an answer, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 6-6 game and move it into extra innings. The Panthers would win it in the eighth on a sacrifice fly.
Pewitt finished 2-for-4 with a homerun and three RBIs while Healy was 2-for-4 with a RBI. Parker scored a pair of runs and added a stolen base. Sophomore
Allison Long got the start, going four innings and allowing four runs off six hits to go with two strikeouts. Sophomore
Caroline Reilly (2-1) took the loss in relief for the Lynx.
In game two, the Panthers went up 4-0 after one inning and extended the lead to 6-0 with two more runs in the fourth inning. Rhodes tried to battle back as Healy hammered her second solo homerun of the day and Parker drove in another run, but it was not enough as the Lynx fell, 6-2.
Freshman
Bri Maniscalco (3-1) took her first loss of the season, pitching 3.1 innings and striking out two while Long came in relief, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing no runs or hits.
Reilly finished 2-for-3 on the day while Healy had the only extra base hit with the homerun. Junior
Christine Hume, freshman
Haley Rath, and sophomore
Kirsten Samuels all had stolen bases in the game.
Rhodes moves to 6-2 overall and 0-2 in SAA play as they return to the field tomorrow for the finale against BSC. The Lynx will look to salvage a game in the series as they are set for 12 PM start time on Sunday.
